The exteriors of houses and other types of buildings are commonly covered with siding materials that protect the internal structures from external environmental elements. The siding materials are typically planks or panels composed of wood, concrete, brick, aluminum, stucco, wood composites or fiber-cement composites. Wood siding is popular, but it is costly and flammable. Wood siding also cracks causing unsightly defects, and it is subject to infestation by insects. Aluminum is also popular, but it deforms easily, expands and contracts in extreme climates and is relatively expensive. Brick and stucco are also popular in certain regions of the country, but they are costly and labor intensive to install.
Fiber-cements siding (FCS) offers several advantages compared to other types of siding materials. FCS is made from a mixture of cement, silica sand, cellulose and a binder. To form FCS siding products, a liquid fiber-cement mixture is pressed and then cured to form FCS planks, panels and boards. FCS is advantageous because it is non-flammable, weather-proof, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Moreover, FCS does not rot or become infested by insects. FCS is also advantageous because it may be formed with simulated wood grains or other ornamental designs to enhance the appearance of a building. To install FCS, a siding contractor cuts the panels or planks to a desired length at a particular job site. The siding contractor then abuts one edge of an FCS piece next to another and nails the cut FCS pieces to the structure. After the FCS is installed, trim materials may be attached to the structure and the FCS may be painted.
Although FCS offers many advantages over other siding materials, it is difficult and expensive to cut. Siding contractors often cut FCS with a circular saw having an abrasive disk. Cutting FCS with an abrasive disk, however, generates large amounts of very fine dust that creates a very unpleasant working environment. Siding contractors also cut FCS with shears having opposing blades, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,678 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,386, which are herein incorporated in their entireties by reference. Although the shears set forth in these patents cut a clean edge in FCS without producing dust, many siding contractors prefer to use a hand-held tool because they are accustomed to cutting siding with hand saws. Therefore, in light of the positive characteristics of FCS and the need for a hand-held cutting tool, it would be desirable to develop a hand-held cutting tool that quickly cuts clean edges through FCS without producing dust.
To meet the demand for a hand-held FCS cutting tool, the present inventors developed a hand-held tool with a reciprocating cutting blade which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,303 (“the '303 patent,” the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference). The hand-held tool of the '303 patent may have a hand-held motor unit with a housing, a motor inside the housing, and a switch operatively coupled to the motor to selectively activate the motor. A head having a casing may be attached to the housing of the motor unit. The head may also have a reciprocating drive assembly coupled to the motor.
The hand-held cutting tool of the '303 patent also has a blade set with first and second fingers attached to either the casing or the motor housing, and a reciprocating cutting member between the first and second fingers. The first finger may have a first guide surface and a first interior surface. Similarly, the second finger may have a second guide surface and a second interior surface. The first and second guide surfaces are preferably in a common plane, and the first and second interior surfaces are spaced apart from one another by a gap distance. The reciprocating cutting member of the blade set has a body with a first width approximately equal to the gap distance and a reciprocating blade projecting from the body. The reciprocating blade has a first side surface facing the first interior surface of the first finger, a second side surface facing the second interior surface of the second finger, and a top surface. The first side surface of the blade is preferably spaced apart from the first interior surface of the first finger by 0.040-0.055 inches for cutting ¼ inch and 5/16 inch thick fiber-cement siding. Similarly, the second side surface of the blade is spaced apart from the second interior surface of the second finger by 0.040-0.055 inches. The distance between the first and second side surfaces of the blade and the first and second fingers, respectively, may be approximately 13%-22% of the thickness of the fiber-cement siding workpiece.
The top surface of the reciprocating blade may also have a width less than the first width of the body. For example, the top surface of the reciprocating blade may be between 0.140 and 0.165 inches, and more preferably between 0.160 and 0.165 inches for cutting ¼ inch and 5/16 inch thick fiber-cement siding. The top surface may also have a curvature concave with respect to the first and second guide surfaces of the first and second fingers.
In operation, a drive assembly is operatively coupled to the reciprocating member to reciprocate the blade into and out of the gap between the fingers. As the drive assembly moves the blade into the gap between the fingers, the top surface of the blade and the straight guide surfaces of the fingers shear the fiber-cement siding.
One drawback of the hand-held tool of the '303 patent, however, is that the fingers can be worn away relatively quickly in cutting the abrasive FCS. If the fingers are worn, the edge of the finger may not cleanly break the surface of the FCS or the spacing between the reciprocating blade and the fingers can fall outside desirable tolerances. FCS is a relatively brittle material that tends to crack along rough edges and unpredictable paths. Excessive wear of the shear edge and/or the interior surface of a finger can lead to unacceptable cutting of the FCS.